Blogs

Today's VFD update: A response to the random question from the back seat this morning as we weasled our way onto the Viaduct in SoDo. "I thought the Viaduct was coming down. So why are we still getting on it?"
Listen, Billy, it ain't that simple. Rebuilding Seattle's north-south access via SR 99 is going to take years...about four more, to be exact. And until it's all built, the Viaduct's not coming down.
Now that we're all getting so good at riding the SoDo Coaster, here's a look at some of the key timeline highlights, all just estimates, courtesy of WSDOT:

Trick-or-treating? We’ve got you covered.
Want to stay in a watch a good scary movie? Double check.
Have an awesome costume and want to find something better than your typical, stand-around-until-the-punch-dries-up sorta party? Voila:

In case the weekend shut-ins among us need a little help rounding off the perfect horror movie marathon. (Watch at your own discretion – we can’t be responsible for any “accidents.”)
Listed in no particular order:
The Fly You will never look at Jeff Goldblum the same way again.
Night of the Living Dead (1968) The zombie movie that schooled the rest.
The Shining Redrum.
Black Swan Natalie Portman scares me.

Word just in that the WSDOT will reopen the Alaska Way Viaduct on Saturday morning, two days ahead of schedule. The SoDo southbound offramp will reopen on Monday.
Though north-south travel along the waterfront will once again be possible, it might be so annoyingly slow that some of us will revert to our Viaduct-pocolypse workarounds. Picture yourself and thousands of your friends squeezing onto a 4-lane roadway (two in each direction), weaving through SoDo before rejoining SR99. Picture yourself celebrating when you finally hit 25 miles an hour.

As Ken Burns recently illuminated for us, women were at the forefront of the two most significant developments in our country's history of drinking: the enactment of Prohibition, and then its repeal. And when ladies' thirst roared in with the '20s, it wasn't pink cosmos they were drinking.

MUST SCREAMHorror Film Exhibit at EMPRest up your vocal cords—EMP’s new exhibit Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film explores the human fascination with scary movies. Indulge in classic film screenings (such as Nosferatu, Bride of Frankenstein and The Exorcist), iconic artifacts (the axe from The Shining and Freddy Krueger’s original glove) and the Scream Booth, which is fairly self-explanatory.

With the Viaduct lying in ruins around our ankles, seems a good time for a look ahead. Want to get a peek at what's cooking for the shiny new, re-imagined Seattle waterfront? There's a cool public event tonight, from 5-9 p.m. at Bell Harbor Conference Center on Pier 66. You'll see a presentation of design ideas from James Corner Field Operations, the guy who's been tasked with making our precious waterfront more stroll-worthy.

RedTri.com: Maybe your ’hood doesn’t have great sidewalks for trick or treating, or maybe your neighbors are Boo-Humbug and don’t pass out good Halloween loot, or maybe you just want to do something new and go somewhere different around Seattle to show off your adorable costumed kids. Try these various Seattle venues and neighborhoods for treats, eats and other spooktakular Halloween events.Ballard Trick or TreatingTreats for costumed kids from participating merchants with orange signs.

Spotting the fruit of the fall season in my local supermarket conjures visions of cozy winter dinners complemented by inspired autumnal table settings (which I will never set). But on rare occasions when I have taken the squash home to my kitchen, it's greatest accomplishment ended up being a cumbersome centerpiece (at least one fantasy sort of came true).

We've just put our December issue to bed, and one of the features we're really excited about is our exclusive excerpt from a new memoir by Seattle's iconic sushi chef, Shiro Kashiba (Shiro's in Belltown is his namesake restaurant).

Remember when everyone used to send emails with 15 forwards intact and you had to scroll to the very bottom of the page and then it ended up being some stupid joke that wasn't worth your time anyway?
Well, my dad still sends those sometimes (a lot). But this time? My two major life loves--dogs and food--come together. So call me a sucker; I thought it was cute enough to share. For your 3pm you-weren't-getting-anything-done-anyway break, I give you Dogs Eating at the Table.

Stumbled across this new music video from Tacoma folk/soul band, Elk and Boar, the music project of Kirsten Wenlock (aka Elk) and Travis Barker (aka Boar). You may remember them from this year's Doe Bay Festival.
The stop-motion style "Thief" conjures a wonderful effect similar to silent films. Be patient: it grows on you.
Also the styling is pretty fabulous. Sort of like those old west photo booths I used to long to pose in at Six Flags theme parks - except less cheesy.

So, the world didn't end this morning in Seattle—but we're not out of the woods, yet, according to the DOT. Just because this morning's commute was "a skate" for some of us (not me!), we should still expect serious traffic problems as the week progresses, as people lured into a false sense of security go back to their bad old ways. Don't do it!
But it was a pretty impressive effort this morning, in the rain, dodging apparently first-time bike commuters wobbling into traffic lanes. Attitude is everything, and mine was greatly helped by: